In traditional religions, still held by some isolated groups, Semangat is the general word for "soul", which can leave the person's body temporarily in dreams and finally at death. When the soul leaves the body it assumes the form of a homunculus, and in this form can feed on the souls of others. At death, the soul either returns to the creator passes, directly or indirectly, into another person, animal or plant. The spirit or ghost, usually called the anitu, continues to linger and may be harmful to its survivors.

An old Malay belief is that a person's ghost the haunts their grave for seven days before departing to the underworld. Ghosts may also return and take possession of a living person, causing madness.Ghosts are generally are believed to be active only at night time, especially during a full moon. Ghosts may torment the living, causing illness and misfortune. One way to evade such a ghost is for all the victims to formally change their name, so that when the ghost returns it will not recognize them. Another is to tempt the ghost with a meal. When the ghost turns into an animal such as a chicken so that it can eat, it may be killed and destroyed.

Ghosts traditionally were blamed for some illnesses. To cure them, the shaman in a village would burn incense, recite incantations, and in some cases sacrifice a goat and wash its blood into the river to appease the ghost. The Ulik Mayang dance might be performed to heal the person by driving out the ghost.